The Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) and the IDF on Sunday evening confirmed that Hamas military wing spokesperson Abu Obeida was killed in an IDF strike in Gaza City.
Defense Minister Israel Katz had already confirmed on X/Twitter earlier on Sunday, but the military always provides the final confirmation, and there have been a few instances where political officials have jumped the gun on such predictions.
In this instance, the announcement said that the Shin Bet took the lead in managing the operation from its headquarters, while the IDF worked jointly with the agency.
Sometimes, the IDF simply drops a bomb using its own intelligence collection. This indicates that locating Obeida required special Shin Bet-style expertise.
Al Arabiya had reported earlier that the IDF struck the apartment where Abu Obeida was located, killing him and everyone else who was inside, and that his family and Qassam Brigades leaders had confirmed his death.
The IDF carried out the strike targeting "a senior Hamas terrorist in Gaza City," the IDF and the Shin Bet had already confirmed in a joint statement Saturday.
Israeli officials previously told The Jerusalem Post they are optimistic he was killed in the strike.
The IDF said that prior to the strike, it took steps to mitigate harm to civilians, including the use of precise ammunition, aerial surveillance, and intelligence.
Obeida as a dominant force in Hamas's psychological warfare
Throughout the war, the IDF said that Obeida had taken the lead for Hamas on publishing "victories" by the terror group both on October 7, 2023, and anytime after.
Obeida was considered the dominant force in Hamas's psychological warfare games against Israel and to convert Westerners to be sympathetic to the terror group over Israel.
In recent months, Hamas also had tremendous success in convincing the West that Israel was enacting a deliberate starvation campaign in Gaza.
The truth was that Israel had held the food security equation on a tightrope, which was dangerously close between having just enough food and not enough, in order to try to break Palestinians away from Hamas' control of their food. But to date, even if food insecurity was at its worst last month, there has still been no mass starvation in Gaza.
Hamas spokesman threatened soldiers, hostages as IDF prepares for Gaza City invasion
Obeida on Friday declared that Israeli hostages are being held alongside its fighters in combat zones under the same perilous conditions.
“We will preserve the lives of the captives to the extent that we can,” the terror group said. “They will remain with our fighters in the places of confrontation, exposed to the same risks.”